Testing an application under continuous developmentYou are right about the One Man Gate - there is always talk of that if its not approved by me then it doesn't get shipped to the customer (something that hasn't really been happening recently because of additional pressures) but if I said any more I would be diverting from my original point and starting a rant :) kind of a double edged sword in that regard, the freedom of trying new things is nice but the 'blame' is the cost.

Sep5

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Testing an application under continuous developmentMany thanks for the reply. Unit testing certainly seems like a recurring theme, will definitely be an avenue ill pursue and you are certainly right about the respected testers replies :) I think the problem stems from the company seeing the QA team (aka Me) as a final stamp of approval saying yes i'm 100% happy with all of the work and the small things slipping through should have been picked up. Dont get me wrong I fully appreciate its a great position to be in and I have been heavily involved in the setting up the testing processes from scratch, but I feel theres something holding it back.

Sep2

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Testing an application under continuous developmentLaura you don't know just how spot on you've nailed it with points 1-6 (I brought in the idea of branching so I have my own DB and version of the apps to play with which can't be updated until a dev has my permission - which has been working nicely). I'm also not complaining, just branching out to see if I could benefit from anyone else's experience. I think my frustration lies in that no matter how many huge app destroying bugs I find (and receive little recognition for) there is always that one tiny bug slipping through that the customer picks up on. Great advice though, very appreciated.

Sep2

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Testing an application under continuous developmentI think the main problem with the automation of Coded UI isn't exactly Microsofts fault, its more the rapid generation application software that the developers use. But I am exploring other ideas in this regard like Selenium etc. You are clearly right about learning more about how the applications interact and I like to think I know a fair bit already but there are so many dependencies it boggles the mind at times (I have the devs drawing up a map as I type).

Learning about Ethical HackingEthical hacking (in this context) was simply a way of describing a company that has hired you for your skills in Penetration testing, i.e. they want you to see if their sites are vulnerable to such activity